The Difference Between Western and Japanese Mechanized Dolls

Around the 18th century, dolls were particularly popular and included everything from French dolls that performed simple actions made by girls to complex dolls such as the writing doll made by Jaquet-Droz. These dolls used metal wheels and other metal parts, many of them borrowed applications from clock making, and they were driven by steel metal springs.The type of movement made by the dolls would also change by swapping out discs resembling modern-day CDs or records, and the dolls were extremely large, heavy, and intricate. Such pieces were expensive and were therefore largely possessions of royal families and the like.

The difference between Japanese and Western dolls is that, due to the influence of Japan’s national isolationist policy, metal was not used often as it was considered a weapon. In contrast, Western mechanized dolls are made up of an array of technologies from clock making and there are also some large works.

On the other hand, it has been said that Japanese dolls have movements more closely reflecting the living appearance of humans.Also, Western mechanized dolls feature clockwork-like movements (robotic and cartoon-like).Some also have music inside. (music boxes)